The purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.
("the Act") is to "assure so far as possible every working man and woman in
the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human
resources." 29 U.S.C. Sec. 651(b). To achieve this goal, Congress authorized
the Secretary of Labor to promulgate and enforce occupational safety and
health standards. U.S.C. Secs. 655(a) (authorizing summary adoption of
existing consensus and federal standards within two years of the Act's
enactment), 655(b) (authorizing promulgation of standards pursuant to notice
and comment), 654(b) (requiring employers to comply with OSHA standards.) A
safety or health standard is a standard "which requires conditions, or the
adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or
processes, reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful
employment or places of employment." 29 U.S.C. Sec. 652(8).

A standard is reasonably necessary or appropriate within the meaning of
Section 652(8) if it substantially reduces or eliminates significant risk,
and is economically feasible, technologically feasible, cost effective,
consistent with prior Agency action or supported by a reasoned justification
for departing from prior Agency actions, supported by substantial evidence,
and is better able to effectuate the Act's purposes than any national
consensus standard it supersedes. See 58 FR 16612-16616 (March 30, 1993).

The Supreme Court has noted that a reasonable person would consider a
fatality risk of 1/1000 to be a significant risk, and would consider a risk
of one in one billion to be insignificant. Industrial Union Department v.
American Petroleum Institute, 448 U.S. 607, 646 (1980) (the "Benzene
decision"). So a risk of 1/1000 (10(-3)) represents the uppermost end of a
million-fold range suggested by the Supreme Court, somewhere below which the
boundary of acceptable versus unacceptable risk must fall. The Court further
stated that "while the Agency must support its findings that a certain level
of risk exists with substantial evidence, we recognize that its determination
that a particular level of risk is significant will be based largely on
policy considerations." See, e.g., International Union, UAW v. Pendergrass,
878 F.2d 389 (D.C. Cir. 1989) (formaldehyde standard); Building and Constr.
Trades Department, AFL-CIO v. Brock, 838 F.2d 1258, 1265 (D.C. Cir. 1988)
(asbestos standard).

A standard is technologically feasible if the protective measures it
requires already exist, can be brought into existence with available
technology, or can be created with technology that can reasonably be expected
to be developed. American Textile Mfrs. Institute v. OSHA 452 U.S. 490, 513
(1981) ("ATMI"), American Iron and Steel Institute v. OSHA, 939 F.2d 975, 980
(D.C. Cir 1991) ("AISI").

A standard is economically feasible if industry can absorb or pass on the
cost of compliance without threatening its long term profitability or
competitive structure. See ATMI, 452 U.S. at 530 n. 55; AISI, 939 F. 2d at
980.

A standard is cost effective if the protective measures it requires are the
least costly of the available alternatives that achieve the same level of
protection. ATMI, 453 U.S. at 514 n. 32; International Union, UAW v. OSHA, 37
F. 3d 665, 668 (D.C. Cir. 1994) ("LOTO III").

All standards must be highly protective. See 58 FR 16614-16615; LOTO III, 37
F. 3d at 668. However, health standards must also meet the "feasibility
mandate" of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 655(b)(5). Section 6(b)(5)
requires OSHA to select "the most protective standard consistent with
feasibility" that is needed to reduce significant risk when regulating health
hazards. ATMI, 452 U.S. at 509.

Section 6(b)(5) also directs OSHA to base health standards on "the best
available evidence," including research, demonstrations, and experiments. 29
U.S.C. Sec. 655(b)(5). OSHA shall consider "in addition to the attainment of
the highest degree of health and safety protection * * * the latest
scientific data * * * feasibility and experience gained under this and other
health and safety laws." Id.

Section 6(b)(7) of the Act authorizes OSHA to include among a standard's
requirements labeling, monitoring, medical testing and other information
gathering and transmittal provisions. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 655(b)(7).

Thank You for Visiting Our Website

You are exiting the Department of Labor's Web server.

The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.